Gesture to Diogo Jota's family summed up Liverpool on forward's birthday

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In a touching display of compassion, Liverpool committed to paying the remainder of Diogo Jota's contract earnings to his family following the footballer's tragic death. The star forward and his brother, Andre Silva, were killed in a devastating car crash on July 3 this year, just 11 days after Jota's wedding.

The Jota family was plunged into grief when the two brothers were involved in a fatal accident in the Spanish province of Zamora. It was later revealed that Jota was driving them to a port in Santander for pre-season training on Merseyside when his Lamborghini Huracan suffered a tyre blowout while overtaking another vehicle, resulting in the car skidding and crashing.

Jota, who would have celebrated his 29th birthday on Thursday, had transferred to Anfield from Wolves in 2020 and quickly won over the fans. He still had two years left on his £140,000-a-week contract when the tragedy occurred, leaving behind his wife Rute Cardoso and their three young children.

In honour of his contributions and importance to the club, Jota's death prompted an immediate flood of tributes. But Liverpool went above and beyond by agreeing to pay out the remainder of his contract to his bereaved family.

This significant gesture was confirmed by manager Arne Slot , who noted it's not always a given for clubs to make such a commitment, even in such sorrowful circumstances.

"I said how proud I felt about how the fans reacted and the ownership," he told TNT Sports in September. "Owners are mainly criticised, like managers, but the way they've handled this situation by paying his wife and his children all the money from the contract is...maybe people think it's normal, but it is not in football."

Liverpool's American owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), have been praised for numerous shrewd decisions during their Anfield tenure. Yet it's the compassion shown through this gesture that truly stands out and signifies the morals of the club as a whole.

During his five years at Anfield, Jota netted 65 times and provided 26 assists across 182 appearances for the Reds. He celebrated lifting the Premier League trophy just months before his death, having also been instrumental in securing an FA Cup and EFL Cup double in 2022.

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As a lasting tribute to his impact at the club, Liverpool permanently retired his iconic No. 20 shirt in July. This extends across the men's first team, women's squad and all academy sides.

Jota and brother Andre were laid to rest in their Portuguese hometown of Gondomar in July. Captain Virgil van Dijk led a group of Liverpool players paying their respects, alongside Andrew Robertson , one of Diogo's dearest friends in the game.

Robertson had attended Jota's wedding just days before his tragic death. The Scotland international later shared a heartfelt tribute to his beloved former teammate following the devastating news.

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"The ones I'm thinking about most right now are the family. Their loss is too much to bear. I'm so sorry that they have lost two such precious souls – Diogo and Andre," said Robertson. "For the team and the Club, we'll try to cope with this together... however long that takes.

"For me, I want to talk about my mate. My buddy. The bloke I loved and will miss like crazy. I could talk about him as a player for hours, but none of that feels like it matters right now. It's the man. The person. He was such a good guy. The best. So genuine. Just normal and real.